This morning while I was watching CBS Sunday Morning an ad came on urging viewers to contact Colorado state officials and tell them to oppose a state option to provide healthcare. The ad made assertions that the state option would increase costs, hurt jobs and the economy, and threaten access to quality care. No sources were cited for these conclusions, nor any information provided on the names nor faces behind the funding of this ad. Nationally, CBS can be somewhat proud of its journalistic integrity, airing fine programs like CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes. Locally, I have less confidence in the investigative thoroughness of the reporting team. They appear to be less focused on informing the public than in attracting and maintaining viewers through sensational headlines (murders, traffic accidents, fires, and other crimes). They do not make their top priority keeping the community up to date on current affairs or issues for which their knowledge might influence their behavior. So it is particularly disturbing, but not surprising, when the local affiliate places a highly biased and self-serving ad in the middle of a legitimate national news program, an ad that is intended to deliberately sway public opinion against an important piece of proposed legislation. I think it is unethical for our local CBS affiliate to accept huge amounts of ad revenue to air a slick piece of disinformation without vetting it or providing a disclaimer or making an effort to air an opposing point of view. The ad is funded by Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, along with its subsidiary, Colorado’s Health Care Future. I have contacted the news department at CBS Channel 4 Denver to let them know they should be investigating Colorado’s Health Care Future, not accepting ad money from them.
Ramblings and assumed insights